The Inhuman Element 20 rewrite
by Hikari Mibu
Summary: A re-write of my original spy fic with the cast of SDK. If you've read the original expect plot changes and changes to my own characters. R&R appreciated. Promise this one is going to be sooooo much better!
1. Chapter 1

**I own nothing except for characters which don't appear in the original manga. All characters that don't belong to me belong to Akimine Kamijyo. BIG shout out to kyoandyuya who got me to finish the original and gave me the a-okay to do the re-write. Thank you! **

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Kyo sipped his whiskey at the bar of The Shetlands Pub, silently making his way through the golden bottle while eyeing up the blonde barmaid at the far end of the counter. It was nine o'clock and apart from him, there were only six other patrons in the establishment. Kyo's red eyes travelled down the slender back of the barmaid as he ogled her rear in a critical fashion as she talked to the only other female in the room: a brown haired girl with violet eyes who sipped what looked like a Jack Daniels and Coke in the opposite corner.

Minutes ticked by in relative silence; Kyo ignored the vibrating in his jean's pocket that told him someone was phoning him. He was determined to finish this bottle in peace because, knowing his luck, it would be Akari begging to join him. And as much as he liked Akari, he liked his drink more. He watched the long blonde ponytail sway as the barmaid dressed in a fitted shirt and short skirt moved back and forward: pouring more drinks and cleaning glasses. Her own green eyes sometimes slipped to him when she thought he wasn't looking. He noticed every one of her short gazes: he had to notice everything or he wouldn't be the best at his job. He guessed her age to be around eighteen. He also guessed that she and the brunette across the bar were related in some way as she always returned to check on her, like an older sister.

The clock soon struck half past and last orders were called. He checked the contents of the bottle and found it depressingly low and with no time to order another. His phone – that had been silent for a brief period – started ringing again and he checked out the other patrons in the room before reaching down to answer, deciding it was time to find another place to drink. The blonde had gone back to the brunette. He answered his mobile:

"Yeah?" He suddenly craved a cigarette. His gaze looked up again and felt his eyes widen slightly: the brunette across the bar had moved; vanished in fact, in the split second that it had taken him to find the 'Answer' button on his phone.

"Kyo! Akari and I having a party at my place later tonight! I guess you'll want to come!?" Yukimura's already drunk screeching exploded painfully in his ear. He gave a small grunt in reply as he scanned the rest of the room for the brunette. The barmaid approached him with a friendly smile:

"Sir, we're about to close, can I have your glass please?" She held a slender hand out; he drained the last of the whisky and handed it to her quietly. Something caught the corner of his peripheral vision and he looked down to where her shirt lifted from the waistband of her skirt: a wooden handle and what looked like a trigger peeked out. He frowned and stared at it outright; unfortunately the blonde noticed and snatched her hand away with a 'humph' and yanked her shirt back down:

"I know what you're thinking you –" the rest of her retort was cut short as the glass in her hand split in to two halves with a barely audible 'crack' and fell to the floor, smashing into a million pieces at her feet. She gave a startled cry and stumbled back as Kyo tipped his chair back and using his maai, felt around the room: trying to locate where the shots were coming from. He sensed in the corner of his aura field a shadow: well hidden in the darkness to untrained eyes. It moved fast: darting from one corner to the other when it noticed it was spotted. Kyo went to pull out his gun...

Only to have the shadow fall to the ground, a throwing star lodged in the back of it's head. He blinked once, taking it in before pivoting on his foot and looking around the bar. Everything had taken less than twenty seconds and there was almost no sign that anything had happened except for the now fallen body dressed from head to toe in black, a white mask with markings covering it's face and the shattered glass on the floor. He pivoted again and looked for the blonde. She was gone. Behind the bar was the glittering pieces of the destroyed glass and another black dressed body, this time with a smoking bullet hole in the white mask.

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**R&R (as long as it's helpful) is appreciated. I will try to update once a week if not more, depending on the state of my college life and if insperation strikes. Love to all. **


	2. Chapter 2

Kyo had to wonder, as he walked down the sun flooded hallways of MI6 the next morning, how someone like Akari – who used to be one of his 'servants' in the school playground: who brought him his coke and then his beer when they got to college – had managed to become his 'boss'? Right now the answer to that was not the most important thing on his mind: it was the throbbing headache that was taking Riverdance lessons on the front lobes of his brain and on his optic nerves, which took pride of place. It was a good thing that he could hide the evidence of a hangover like a craftsman and it was a mercy that the building was almost dead this time of the morning.

As he approached Akari's office, he noticed the double doors hanging open: a few boxes of various shapes and sizes stood there ripped or tipped over so the stupid polystyrene peanuts scattered across the plush red carpet of the hallway.

"Up a bit..." Akari's voice was strained with either drunkenness or a bad hangover. There was a decidedly female grunt and a few thudding noises.

"Perrrr...eer...fect!" Drunk. Decidedly drunk. Wading his way through the polystyrene packaging and standing amongst the mess in the door way, he took in the havoc that was Akari's new office:

This had always been Akari's office, it's just that her boss' hadn't given her permission to redecorate it in the three years she had been there. The wood panelling was still there, much like in James Bond films, the fireplace and the huge arched windows that looked out onto the Themes. What was different was the desk: now a huge pink and white fluffy one with little mini Kyos sewn here and there. At the moment it was covered in many wires and the scattered components of a desktop computer by Dell (he read the name on the boxes he was standing with). What Akari must have been yelling directions drunkenly about was the new eighty inch LCD TV that was perched, rather precariously, over the antique fireplace on supports that looked as old as London itself. He realised the old suit of armour was gone and so was the old moss green armchairs from around the fireplace. What occupied the armour's old place was a drink's cabinet stocked high with what looked like Smirnoff and Scotch and Aftershock. Kyo's headache decided to take up tap lessons with extra vigour.

He noted, with some satisfaction, that the uncomfy green chairs had been replaced with couches that looked stuffed full to bursting with feathers. Perfect for passing a hangover on. He swiftly and silently glided over to the couch and sat himself down, feeling the couch mould around his shape and hold it, like Memory Foam.

"Kyyyyoooo!" Akari tripped over something in a mad dash to get to him. From the corner, Shinrei –who he hadn't acknowledged before – huffed. Kyo ran his eyes down the white haired man once: impeccably dressed in a pressed black suit with white shirt and blue tie. His usual work attire. Kyo's usual work attire consisted of a pair of jeans and a t-shirt: he wasn't too concerned that his boss' boss would get mad at him. After all: he was the best at what he did, which was something he strived for and worked hard to maintain.

"Kyyyoo!" Akari threw herself on top of him, the smell of mixed drinks wafted up his nose. His headache planted a Morris pole in his front temporal lobe and started to dance around it.

"Why did you not come to Yuuukieeee's parrrtieee last night?" Akari's whining strained in his ears. He just closed his eyes and endured.

There was thump from the desk, Kyo's eyes darted across the room to the hideously pink fluffy monstrosity that had replaced what he had thought was a rather nice one, and eyed it critically. The wires tightened like someone was pulling on an end and somehow the four components of the Dell desktop had moved together: the hard drive had been moved to the other corner, the keyboard and mouse wired up and the flat screen monitor had been removed from the desk altogether and had now taken a place on the floor by the top right corner desk. Kyo blinked once, eyes widening slightly: like last night, he had sensed nothing. One glance at Shinrei told him that he had neither felt or saw or had heard anything either. There was another hefty thud and an

"Ow." Kyo rose from his seat, nudging Akari off him and approached to investigate.

As he approached the back of the desk, he observed – with some satisfaction – a Levi clad rear sticking out from under the desk. His red eyes lecherously examined it's heart shape and the way the dark denim hugged the flesh tightly.

"Kyo, stop ogling my ass." The voice was slightly muffled and echoed from under the desk. He smirked, and then was drawn away from the rather pleasant view when a cheery voice -that was too happy to be human this time in the morning – chirped from the door:

"Alright who wants coffee?" Kyo's head turned and again felt his eyes bulge at the origin of the voice: the blonde. The blonde barmaid who had vanished so quickly from the pub was standing with two trays of Starbucks foam cups in the doorway.

From her chair Akari groaned.

"Forget the coffee Yuya...bring me more beer." The blonde ignored her as she gently placed a tall, skinny steaming cup on the floor by Akari.

"This will do you the world of good. I added a little something to it to help perk you up a bit." Akari just groaned and rolled over to face the back of the couch. The blonde gracefully made her way between boxes and misplaced furniture to the desk.

"Sierra, your caramel hot chocolate with marshmallows, whipped cream and sprinkles." Instead of a Starbucks cup, she placed on the furry desk a take-away cup from Costa.

"Thanks Yuya." The voice that was supposedly owned by Sierra made it's muffled way out. As Yuya came around the desk Kyo could now properly examine her: her small figure was proportionate to her stature: a double D cup at least and a size ten jeans. She was wearing a black pencil skirt, a dark blue shirt and a matching black tailored blazer, buttoned up. She went in and out slightly in the right places. Her hair as it had been the night before: to the small of her back, blonde, uneven layered bangs framing her almond face and tied back with a white ribbon. She had large glass green eyes that swept the whole room, like she was doing a security check. But they looked old, like she had seen things she shouldn't have.

She came to him, her low two inch court shoes tapping on the rug and varnished wooden flooring lightly.

"Kyo I presume? I didn't know what you wanted but you have a choice of a double Espresso, Latte, white Mocha, Earl Gray tea, a Cappuccino or a Macchiato." Kyo just picked up the first one that came to hand out the tray: caffeine – in whatever form – was a bloody good idea at the moment. He lifted the lid and sipped the piping hot content: double espresso; his favourite morning after pick me up. He eyed her with one slightly blood shot eye over the rim of the foam cup as she made her way to Shinrei in the corner opposite, who asked for the Earl Gray if it was still available.

Yuya slid the remaining four cups on top of the desk and made her way to the couch and sat next to Akari who was popping two aspirins and downing the hot drink like water from the Fountain of Youth.

"I thought there were meant to be four of them Akari, where are the other two?" Yuya smoothed out her skirt.

"Akira is held up somewhere...Hotaru...will appear when he finds his way here." Kyo's senses where now highly alert and not because of the sudden boost the Espresso had given him: Akari never assembled all four of them unless it was something direly important or dangerous.

"Well we had better wait for them: they need to be all here."

There was another thud and the foam cups jumped on the desk as Sierra hit her head on the underside again.

"Ow! Well then they had better hurry up, we have to return soon, there is no knowing what Tokito and Honey will do if left for too long."

"Sierra I have faith in them. Don't you?" The Levi jeans shuffled out from under the desk and for the first time, Sierra was revealed to the room.

"I have faith but you know what they're like together. Tokito is...Tokito and Honey has a short fuse." The girl called Sierra stood up and again Kyo's red eyes went for a wonder: her feet were bear except for what looked like a pair of tights that went under her skinny jeans – most likely knee highs – her jeans fit perfectly around her more curvy figure which was cut fine in the military button shirt. Her blue-black hair barely made it to her chin and was styled with a side swept fringe and had the tousled and unkempt look of someone who didn't have the time of day to de-frizz or straighten. She wore no makeup – like Yuya – but her strange eyes drew him in anyway: not like Shinrei's harsh yellow, but a deeper gold colour like that Edward character he kept seeing on all the posters lately. And she was pale. Sickly pale white, like she was dying: very slowly.

"Akira are you sure this is the way?" Everyone's heads turned to the doorway as two sets of footsteps were heard approaching: one was very soft and brisk, like they were wearing soft soled shoes and the other a heavy wooden noise, like clogs. The second voice, Akira's, sounded stressed and exhausted, like he had had to put up with the questioning all morning.

"Yes Hotaru, I'm sure this is the way."

"It's just that you got us lost-"

"Look! I did not get us lost! The GPS was-"

"SHUT UP!" Akari bellowed as they entered the doorway, "SOME PEOPLE ARE HAVING A HANG OVER!" Sierra couldn't suppress the giggle as Akari's bloodshot eyes suddenly rolled to the back of her skull and she fell back on the couch, dead to the world.

They put Akari to bed in the bedroom suite attached to the office, leaving her coffee on the bedside table. Apparently, Akari falling unconscious at that moment was conveniently planned by Sierra, who had replaced Yuya's 'pick me up' with sleeping powder. Her excuse was:

"Akari would want to come with us and we can't be having that." But to where, she wouldn't say, or why it would be a bad idea.

Yuya cleared her throat, standing in front of the fireplace to get everyone's attention. Kyo sipped his cooling coffee, the Morris dancers in his head starting to pack up their polls and shoes with bells on.

"Akari and ourselves," she motioned to Sierra who was sat on the chair behind the furry desk monster, "called together this emergency meeting to discuss an up and coming job for all of you." Her green eyes scanned the four men who had placed themselves about the room.

"Now I'm all sure the four of you have been going crazy not having work to do the past few weeks, what with your talents...uh..."

"Being unnecessary for the tasks of normal menial missions." Sierra completed for her with a simple smirk.

"Yes, your talents being unnecessary and wasted on such mundane missions, so I'm offering all of you a chance to exercise and stretch those talents on this mission." Kyo watched as Sierra clicked the mouse which was now attached to a completed desktop computer. The television that was now hanging on the wall above the fireplace clicked into life: a bird's eye view of a lush green island, the southern end framed by a golden beach. The island rose gently in the centre and stretched out to form a cliff reaching out over the west edge: on the precipice of the cliff stood the outline of a large white building.

"This, gentlemen, is Mibuen Island: a holiday resort fifty miles east of the Bahamas. Also the head quarters of the Mibu Clan," Kyo looked up from his Espresso: the name Mibu meant something, but he couldn't remember...

"The Mibu Clan have their fingers in many pies: everything from cars to the performing arts to government funding and weapons development." The last on the list had a hint of foreboding about it. At this time Akira spoke up from his position on the couch:

"Yes, didn't they invent the gun that gives the user the ability to shoot around corners?" Yuya nodded.

"And heat tracking bullets?" Shinrei spoke for the first time since Yuya had started. Again, she nodded. It appeared that the Mibu Clan were more famous for their weapons and car production than anything else. Kyo himself drove the newest Mibu car. That's probably where he knew the name from.

"The point is guys, is that the Mibu are being nasty bastards and earning a not-to-honest dollar on the side." Sierra spoke up: her voice sounding a little annoyed and hurried with the slightest undertone of worry. Yuya immediately went back to the role of group leader. She coughed:

"Um, yes: for many months now my team of undercover agents have been on Mibuen Island trying to locate the whereabouts of a secret laboratory where we believe that the Mibu Clan are creating artificial life: expendable soldiers: 'Battle Dolls' they are called. From what we have gathered, these 'Battle Dolls' don't feel any pain or any emotional response and – what is probably the most scariest thing – is that some of them learn as they go along: they adapt and re-strategise constantly. It is believed that the Mibu Clan first started creating 'Battle Dolls' from runaways and homeless people they just picked up off the streets, but now they are able to create life in a matter of days-" At this Akira interrupted her politely by raising his hand.

"But excuse me Miss Yuya, if all this is known, why haven't there been any attempts to end this? I mean, it _is_ highly unethical."

"A good question Akira and the answer is that all this information I've given you is unproved. And it is just as illegal to send troops in when there is no solid proof that the Battle Dolls, or even the lab, exist."

"So our job is," Shinrei jumped in before Akira could continue, "to find this proof of yours?" Both Yuya and Sierra nodded. He continued,

"You've said yourself that your team has been undercover for many months now, so why do you need us?" At this, Yuya and Sierra exchanged nervous glances. Kyo glanced between them, marking their reactions. Moments passed by and it seemed that Yuya wouldn't or couldn't answer, so Sierra answered for her:

"Due to...circumstances we couldn't have foreseen we have been unable to get close to anyone who might know at least the location of the laboratory."

"What sort of 'circumstances'?" Shinrei's cold searching eyes probed them both. Another few moments of silence from the girls before Sierra broke it.

"Circumstances of health and trust. I'm sure you know of the latter Shinrei?" There was something there: a subtle attack on Shinrei suggesting that Sierra apparently knew more then she let on.

Kyo noticed the frown that Yuya wore as Sierra spoke which meant that Yuya knew what Sierra knew. The girls obviously had done their research. All eyes were on Shinrei now: who blushed but looked angry simultaneously. The air was tense and the only sound was the roar of the London traffic outside and Akari's snores from the bedroom. The air crackled with electricity that could spark any minute, especially between Sierra and Shinrei who were glaring at each other across the room. Akira politely coughed and Yuya straightened out her skirt. Yellow and golden eyes parted ways and the air calmed.

"Shinrei is right: we need you to find this proof for us: we can't do it by ourselves, as was our original objective."

"When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. Cars will come to pick you up at seven a.m. to take you to the airport. After landing in Nassau a boat will ferry us the last fifty miles to the island. More details will be given to you then."

"It's very short notice." The blind agent pointed out innocently from the couch.

"We're running out of time. Apparently the Battle Doll program is almost completed and will be ready to sell within a matter of days. We don't have time to wait around."

"Sell?"

"Yes, to anyone who can pay or the Mibu can make a profit with. Imagine it: it would be the end to warfare as we know it, especially what with all that is going on in the world right now."

Kyo didn't need telling: he could just imagine what would happen if 'Battle Dolls' were out there in warzones: instant annihilation of the enemy. He downed the last of his now chilled Espresso.

"So we can count on you all to be ready in time for the pick up tomorrow?"

"What pick up tomorrow?" Hotaru looked up from playing with a caterpillar on the floor.

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**Again! I OWN NOTHING! (Except for Sierra and Honey) Same again: will upload when I can (college is almost over!) and I'm sorry if this is late, I've been really exhausted lately. Thank you for all of the comments last post, I look forward to the comments on this chapter. I'll try not to make all the chapters this long :) Enjoy. **


	3. Chapter 3

Yuya pressed her head against the cold glass of the aeroplane window as it went through turbulence. They were only four hours into their nine hour journey to Nassau and already she was tired. Always the avid and experienced traveller, this time she just wanted to stay put. It was cramped in economy: people fleeing the horrible weather to soak up some Caribbean sun. She however, was going back to work: the rain filled and cloud covered streets of London had been her long awaited reprieve from the blazingly hot sun on Mibuen Island. She dreaded going back but couldn't wait till she saw Tokito and Honey safe again.

Looking to her right to the seat next to her, she observed Sierra asleep in the chair: silk eye mask covering her eyes, her set of Diddy Beats plugged into her ears and iPod, essentially dead to the world. She was sleeping a lot more lately: you could count the bags under her eyes at the airport this morning. Looking further on across the aisle to the four middle seats she observed Kyo still in the same kind of attire as the last she'd seen him, with his eyes closed, leaning back in the seat. Hotaru sat next to him, stroking a huge teddy bear he had brought from the airport. Akira and Shinrei were reading (well, reading as much as Akira could.)

She let her eyes wonder back to Kyo and daringly traced the outline if his face: the straight razor of his nose, the smooth cliff of his chin and the way his graceful neck seamlessly slid into that wide, strong chest under-

She caught herself mid-stare: it wasn't right to do that. She could feel her face sizzle with the hot flush on her cheeks. Slamming her back into the dusty fabric of the seat, she privately wished she could fall asleep as easily as Sierra could. From across the aisle, Kyo smirked.

5 hours of in-flight entertainment and an hour's wait at the harbour later, the group of spies found themselves jetting along on the pristine blue waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Yuya sat on a bench at the back of the small passenger ship, legs neatly folded, arms resting on her lap, overlooking the rest of the group: Kyo, Akira and Hotaru were sitting with their backs to the wall beside the door that lead down into lower deck, in the shade, not accustomed to the heat. Kyo's eyes were closed and his body folded; Hotaru sat with the teddy bear, playing with it's ears; Akira sat with his fists clenched, leaning forward as if in deep meditation. Shinrei was sitting away from the group: near the edge, looking out over the water with a peaceful look on his features. Yuya suddenly recalled that his 'speciality' was water, so it would make sense that he felt the most comfortable around it. Yuya's green eyes scanned the passenger deck for Sierra: no sign. She then also remembered that Sierra suffered greatly from sea sickness and spent most of the time they spent on water in the bathroom, throwing up.

Standing, she moved across the passenger area and between the benches that Kyo, Hotaru and Akira occupied and passed into the lower deck. It was cooler and darker there and infinitely more still then it was on the outside. It was empty save for the chairs and tables that were bolted to the floor. The women's toilet door was locked. Yuya tapped on it lightly.

"Sierra, you alright in there?" A muffled 'uh huh' came back in response.

"Care to let me in?" Silence, then the bolt on the door snapped back and it swung open. Yuya could just make out Sierra's form sprawled out on the floor, curled around the base of the toilet. She closed the door but didn't bother to lock it as she knelt down and stroked Sierra's back.

"We're almost there, just a few more minutes." She soothed. Poor Sierra got the worst of it sometimes. She soothed out her hair and her pasty white cheek till Sierra groaned and rolled onto her back.

"Why have we stopped moving?"

"Have we?" Sierra nodded.

"The engine's stopped." There was a sound of a xylophone over the intercom system and a male voice came through.

"This is a passenger announcement to inform all passengers that we have received a message through from harbour control, informing us that all travel to and from the island has been suspended temporarily. We hope to resume our passage to the island as soon as possible, we are sorry for any inconvenience caused."

Sierra groaned in frustration and flopped back to the cold tiled floor.

"I wonder why? They've never done that before. I'll be right back Sierra." She hurried her way through the lower deck and back up into the open space: everyone was unmoved. The ship bobbed in the wake of the engine as the water calmed again.

"Is it common for travel to the island to be halted?" Yuya turned and looked at Akira, who was 'looking' in her direction.

"No, this is the first time it's happened. Access to the island has always been-"

Yuya was cut off with the sound of an explosion from the east of the island. Everyone was on their feet and leaning over the edge of the ship to get a better look: smoke billowed out from the western edge where the cliff overhung the ocean; rock fell into the shallow water at the base of the cliff with a splash. Smoke began to rise from the hole created by the blast.

"A controlled explosion do you think?" Everyone's heads turned to see Sierra supporting herself on the doorframe to the lower deck, looking sickly and slightly green in the cheeks.

"Or, more reasonably, a gas leak." Shinrei pushed away from the edge and folded his arms, slightly smug in his 'triumph.' Sierra had other ideas.

"No: it was too neat and if it was a gas leak then there would be fire: there is just smoke." Yuya could sense the tension grow between them again. It was almost comical how they glared at each other, like they had both pushed each other's buttons too well.

A sonic boom had everyone's attention again as a meteor flew out of the thickening smoke and across the ocean, leaving a blazing trail in the sky. It's trajectory had it cutting a razor straight flight path out into the open ocean. It blazed on like a shooting star before losing all energy and falling in a neat arc into the blue waters. The ripples rocked the ship violently. Sierra gripped the doorframe tightly, eyes screwed shut, but sea sickness wasn't going to stop her taking another jab at Shinrei.

"What do you make of that then, Shinrei? That's some gas leak." She darted back inside to throw up.

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**Sorry for the long wait: college, holidays you know the usual. But now that I have 2 months holiday you can be expecting more of me! Hopefully this will cure my insomnia. *nods and yawns* **

**R&R, it's much appriciated. Thanks.  
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	4. Chapter 4

**I OWN NOTHING! (Except for Sierra and Honey) everything else belongs to their respective owners/creators! I'm not making money out of this. Enjoy. **

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_2 days later..._

Kyo brought up the rear of the group:

"Now if you would all come this way, we'll head to our next point of interest: the ruins..." Yuya's sing-song voice cut over the low hum of the group of tourists who had formed the one thirty guided tour around the island. It was not like Kyo to bring up the back of a group but it was necessary if he wanted to go missing: his eyes drew enough attention to him as it was, he didn't want people to realise he had suddenly dropped out of the group if something caught his eye. Something that had immediately caught his eye was the green skirt Yuya's uniform consisted of: he would be keeping one eye on that at all times. He smirked perversely to himself as he watched her rear from the back of the group: what it must be like to grab that?

The group ambled down the road, leaving the busy street of the beach town behind and headed into the forest that covered most of the main body of the island. They followed the road for ten minutes before they came to a sign that marked the way to the ruins. Yuya took this path, leading them down into the undergrowth: plant leaves overhung the edges which were crammed up with fallen leaves. Kyo's gazed scanned the forest, taking everything in from the type of trees to the positioning of rocks: everything was important. They carried on walking; slowly making an ascent up a gentle slope that took them to the base of the hill that formed the cliff that over-hung the ocean. It was a grassy plateau that seemed to span for a mile, to the left the land sloped upwards, forming the cliff and to the right a sheer drop fell into the forest. Kyo could just make out the red roof of the building that stood upon the brink of the cliff; he knew that directly under it was the hole the explosion had created. He made a note to investigate the house later on and returned to examining the ruins. They were above tree level now and could just make out the road that encompassed the island passed the trees; the horizon was two shades of blue. A perfectly innocent setting for something so dangerous. The ruins themselves were the remains of a church – he wondered why ruins were always churches? - that now only had three walls standing, the rest of the sandstone lay sporadically across the grass in large lumps.

Guided tours weren't his thing. He sat down on a piece of complying sandstone and lit a cigarette as Yuya ran through a shortened history of the church and this part of the island. Her green eyes glared at him when she spotted him and what he was sitting on, but didn't say anything as she continued on. As he said: guided tours weren't his thing: they only showed you what they wanted you to see. But he had no choice: he had woken up in his suite this morning to find the ticket shoved under his door: it was obvious that this tour was important. He closed his eyes and sat: arms folded, back slight hunched, cigarette hanging from the corner of his mouth, thinking. It was too obvious that the house would be the lab: far too obvious, Dog-Face over there and Miss Bitchy would have found it by now. No, it had to be somewhere more inconspicuous.

Yuya dropped her 'tour guide' hat on the table and ungracefully dumped herself into the seat and breathed a sigh of relief: on her feet since early sunrise till late after sunset. It was great to be 'home' and off those parts of her abused anatomy. She looked around the joint dining room and living room and let her eyes adjust to the gloom. It was far too quiet. Probably because the two noisiest members of the house, Tokito and Honey, were out. But Sierra was home, she could hear her upstairs in her room, printing off the photographs she had taken that day and her music that hummed down from the room above. She closed her eyes again. On the back of her eyelids her brain projected the picture of Kyo sitting on that rock. He reminded her of a friend she had had a long time ago: Kyoshiro. They looked almost identical: what with the same dark hair and face shape. Okay the nose was a little different and no comment was needed on their eyes, but still...so like Kyoshiro.

It suddenly occurred to her that it was, now, completely silent. Sierra had stopped doing whatever it was she was doing. She had even turned off her music. Something must be up: Sierra always had her music on, even when she wasn't in the room. Yuya stood and reached for her three chambered revolver gun and drew it from the hem of her skirt and slowly tip-toed her way into the hallway and up the top of the stairs. Sierra's room was at the far end of the hallway, door closed, only a slight light made it from under the cracks of the door. Gently placing her shoulder against the wood she knocked gently on the door,

"Sierra? Everything okay in there?" There was a muffled sound and nothing more. Yuya turned the round handle on the door slowly and opened it a crack, looking through it and pointing the gun through the crack under her head.

"No need to overreact Yuya." Sierra hadn't turned from her computer that she was sitting at in complete darkness, staring at a screen, hand over mouth. Yuya's gun arm relaxed when she saw that she was the only person in the room.

"Yuya, come take a look at this. No don't switch on the lights. Close the door too." Yuya's hand slid from the light switch that was illuminated in the dark by the computer screen and closed the door. When she arrived at the computer desk at the far end of the room, Sierra stood out of her wheeled chair and offered it to her,

"Take a look at this photo I took today." Yuya sat down and pulled herself close to the screen and let her eyes roam the photo: two figures, both in black with white masks and purple markings under the eye, were carrying between them through the forest, a sleeping blonde haired girl in a bloodied blue top and matching shorts.

"Oh my...what happened?"

"I don't know. I took this by accident, but I'm sure glad I shot that way. I did some investigating and it turns out that her name is Hayley Miller, eighteen, here with her family on summer break. Her parents have reported her missing. Yuya, they're starting to pick off hotel guests..."

"This is unbelievable! Are you sure?"

"They were in the middle of the forest and heading away from the beach and the hotel, up the side of the hill to the ruins."

"We need to tell the others." She went to stand but Sierra placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her down,

"One last photo, then you can go." She pressed the mouse and a new photo slid into view.

"A new boat load of guests arrived today; take a good, close look." Yuya did, squinting at the screen.

"Is that...Saishi?" Yuya pointed to a head of bright pink hair.

"Yep. And where there is one..."

"There is always the other," Yuya's finger moved to a head of short cropped purple hair, "Saisei. Is this going to have any effect on Shinrei do you think?" She looked up at Sierra who frowned.

"I shouldn't think so; he's professional so he should be able to keep his emotions separate from his work, even if they both tie together. And anyway, that's not the end of it, take another look." She pointed to a head of blue black hair. Yuya's eyes widened and her voice dropped to a whisper:

"Kyoshiro..."

"So it looks like the house on top of the cliff is the best place to start." Akira summed up and caught a piece of sushi with his chopsticks. They were sitting at the table in Kyo's suite, eating a late dinner. Kyo sipped his beer and didn't comment.

"There's a house?" Hotaru looked up from his chicky bowl full of rice. Across the table Shinrei glared, twitching slightly,

"Haven't you been listening to a word we've just said?"

Hotaru was about to reply but was rudely interrupted when the door to the room was flung open, crashing against the wall and in walked a short girl with even shorter blond hair tailed by a slightly taller girl with a wave of black hair, who gently closed the door.

"You Kyo?" The blonde stomped up to the table and stood next to Kyo with folded arms and the aura of a stroppy kid.

"There's a girl talking to Kyo..." Hotaru commented, chopstick full of rice halfway to his mouth. The girl glared at Hotaru,

"It's Tokito, idiot." She turned to Kyo, "So you're Kyo, would be nice to get an answer." She huffed and pulled up a chair and sat at the head of the table. The other girl just stood by Tokito.

"Ah, so you're the Tokito we've heard so much about from Miss Yuya." Tokito glared at Akira,

"Yeah, so?"

"There's no need to be like that: we're all on the same side." Tokito was about to respond but found her mouth muffled by a slightly tanned hand,

"Yesh that would be Tokito. I'm Honey. Nice to meet you." Tokito grappled her way out of Honey's hand. Akira smiled,

"Good. I'm Akira, and Hotaru and his brother Shinrei and Kyo." Honey looked around the table, nodding and storing the new information.

"Kiri, Taru, Shinny, Kyosie. Got it." Shinrei glared at the girl as she labelled him 'Shinny.'

"I hope you have settled in well. We really popped over on our way home to ask you if there was anything you needed or wanted to do?"

"No, we just came to see the deadweight-" Tokito found her mouth muffled again.

"Well now that you offered, we were wondering if we could take a look at the house on the cliff?" Akira offered. Honey's face fell,

"Oh, that. If you think that the lab is there then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed: we've looked and there was nothing. But if you still want to take a look-"

"We do."

"Then we shall take you tomorrow then."


	5. Chapter 5

**I own nothing except for Honey and Sierra! All rights go to the owners/creators. I am making no money from this. Enjoy. **

* * *

"It's very dusty in here."

"Yes Hotaru, we know." Honey's reply was dry and a little cynical, but if Hotaru noticed he didn't show it. The group of seven had entered the white mansion on the cliff top, having ripped open the double front doors which had been nailed shut. The mansion was just a shell: there were no floors apart from the one they stood upon; they could look all the way up and see the supports in the roof. All around them lay debris of decay: planks of wood, lumps of masonry and shard of glass from shattered windows.

"Dog face," Kyo lit a cigarette as he stood, red eyes scanning the interior, "where's Miss Bitch?"

"She's in Miami for a hospital appointment, she left early this morning."

"That does seem like a good idea," came Akira's comment from the corner where he was 'looking' through a glassless window over viewing the cliff edge, "she does seem very ill."

Yuya smiled awkwardly and nodded,

"Yes she-"

"Don't tell them Yuya! It's none of their business." Tokito snapped from across the space. Kyo frowned at the little blonde girl. She caught sight of the frown and marched across the space, squaring off to Kyo,

"It's none of your business, so keep the hell out of it." Her snap turned into a growl as the two locked stares. The air crackled.

"There's a lot of fresh blood over here." Both stares turned and looked at Honey who was knelt down in the corner, her fingertips touching a dark red stain on the floor.

"Looks new, I'd say a few hours old at least." Shinrei and Akira picked their way through the debris and knelt down around the stain and examined it too.

"But who would be bleeding up here?"

"And where did they go?"

Across the room, Hotaru had found bountiful amusement with a loose floorboard: he bounced on one end and enjoyed being bounced back. He bent his knees in order to get more bounce. The wood creaked under the effort of the rebound, cracking slightly in the centre. Hotaru didn't notice: too busy trying to see the stuffed animal that had been left behind in a pile of stone in the opposite corner. But by the time he'd realised that the wood was cracking it was too late: a hole half of the floor gave way, swallowing him up as he fell into darkness.

The others looked around at the sound of the floor gave away,

"Taru!" Honey ran to the edge of the chasm and peered into the darkness. Everyone crowded around her.

"Are you all right Hotaru?" Yuya called down, her voice echoed back at her before,

"There's a hole in the wall..." Almost everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Idiot." Shinrei and Tokito muttered together then gave each other a short glance. Kyo remained impassive as usual.

"We have to find a way to get him out-" Akira started but was cut off when I whorl of black skirt caught his eye and Honey vanished over the edge.

"It's not that deep, just jump."

"Another idiot." Tokito grumbled.

"Eh, dudes and dudettes..." Honey's voice echoed up, "You might want to come down here and take a look at this."

Yuya blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness after she had lowered herself into the hole. As her eyes balanced out the light and darkness she could just make out the dimly lit figures of her friends and co-workers. Kyo stood a tall shadow in the dark, the red burning light of his cigarette floated in the dark. She absentmindedly took cautious steps towards him,

"Yuya, come take a look at this." Honey was further down to her right where the darkness gently lightened and in the wall of the cave was a huge hole. Daylight flooded in along with the smell of the ocean: she could see the clear blue sky beyond. She turned back and found herself and Kyo just inches away from touching. She blushed, grateful for the darkness, and stomped off embarrassed, to the hole. Honey was leaning against the edge of the hole.

"This was where the explosion came from." Yuya stroked the edges as Hotaru and Shinrei came to examine it too.

"Get your asses down here." Tokito's voice echoed far from the other end. Yuya turned: Tokito's, Akira's and Kyo's silhouettes stood against the far wall, she could just make out Tokito's pale slender hands pressed against it.

"Sup Toki?" Honey skipped along. Tokito growled:

"Stop calling me that! It's metal."

"It looks like a door. A heavy bolted one." Akira had a curled finger on his chin as he observed the door.

"A door?" Yuya placed her hand next to one of Tokito's and felt the cold metal under her warm palm. She started feeling along the metal until the metal came to an end and the stone wall started. She felt down the seam of the wall and door, kneeling, till she felt a lump. She started to stand again till she was standing on her toes: another large lump came into her palm. Hinges.

"I think I've found the lock." Shinrei announced, "and it's padlocked I think." The sound of heavy metal hitting metal rang through the cave.

"So this is a tunnel? An entrance way?" Shinrei continued,

"The lab?" Honey spoke up,

"Most likely." Akira added, "I think we should come back later with better preparations: we don't want to be taken surprised."

"I agree." Akira glanced at Shinrei,

"For once, lapdog." There was no disguising the mocking in Akira's voice, there was a snicker from Honey somewhere in the darkness.

* * *

**Sorry for the wait! Been running around crazy with things with college. Will post again soon. **


	6. Chapter 6

Later that night Yuya slowly lowered herself down the slick black rope and into the wind-chilled corridor under the mansion. She shivered slightly as the sea wind whistled through the hole in the cliff face wall. Peering up through the gloom and could just make out Kyo measuring the distance between the wooden floor he was standing on and the dusty corridor below; in terms of jumps it wasn't a very big one: she supposed that if you didn't mind falling and possibly bruising yourself, then you could make the jump no problem. Kyo obviously didn't mind as he left the mansion floor with a swift bend at the knees and landed in the same way. The drop obviously had no effect on him: his eyes were still the stare of someone unbothered, the cigarette still smoked gently in the gloom from his mouth and his stance was still casual, hands folded deeply into his pockets. Shuffling closer she could feel his body heat and wondered if he could feel her's too; the thought that he might warmed her deeply in the cold air and she leaned in further of her own accord.

"Let's go dog-face." The warm feeling quickly evaporated into tormented pride as Kyo marched on.

"Hey! What's this dog-face all about!" Her yell echoed around the corridor and out to the silent sea. Kyo's deep low laugh nipped at the echo's tail as Yuya fumed, following the dark silhouette and the floating, glowing ember of the cigarette end. Digging into her waist pouch she located her compact torch and flicked it on, banishing the darkness in front of her and lighting up Kyo's sturdy back and shoulders, which she watched in a way in which she did not like: measuring the broadness, the hard line of well defined muscles in his shoulders, the way his back was straight and unbending and his posture: so arrogant and self-assured...She stopped herself mid-near fantasy and forced herself to focus on the task at hand.

Eventually she pulled up astride Kyo in front the looming door and sent the torch around to illuminate the edges and hinges. It looked more like the inside of the door then out: no lock, no keypad; no nothing that could suggest that this door opened this way.

"It's clear that we're not going to get in this way, let's go back to the surface and re-decide from there." It was a logical idea and she was sure it was one that Kyo would agree with: but the tall figure just stood there with a frown that was so focused she was surprised the door did not simply disintegrate from the intensity.

"Um...Kyo?"

"Something is happening." It was the blonde's turn to frown this time,

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you hear that?" Yuya stood stock still and pricked her ears up and closed her eyes: the sound of the waves lapping against the shore was magnified, the wind howled now instead of whistled and on the other side sounds which she had not noticed before became as clear as a gong: small electronic beeps and taps were emanating from one side of the door. Pressing her ear against the door on the side it was coming from, the sounds became clearer, along with the slightly laboured breathing like that of an asthmatic. Yuya listened intently to the sounds that accompanied the beeps in the background; bubbling like boiling water, the low hum of electricity and the whirring of machines.

"Hey, I think someone's back there." She glanced at Kyo who had not moved in all that time, eyes still trained on the barrier before them.

"What's that?" Her face fixed into a curious frown as six sharp beeps, higher pitched than the ones before, stabbed out of the low collected murmur behind the door.

Yuya jumped out the way as the locks on the other side released with an hydraulic hiss and the door leaped out of it's stony frame and eased itself back against the wall, both of them stepping back to avoid being hit. With a low sound like a muffled explosion, the door came to rest against the dark smooth wall and both of them looked into the gaping entrance. A figure stood there: tall, slender with a sculpted flat chest, slightly feminine features, jet black hair that touched narrow shoulders and a Budweiser clenched tightly in one hand. At first, Yuya couldn't disconcert whether it was male or female until Kyo spoke up:

"Yukimura." It was neither a question or an expression of surprise. It was just a statement, like Kyo was acknowledging the man's presence. Yuya looked between them,

"Kyo...you know this man?"

"He sure does pretty, and I'm guessing by your very beautiful green eyes, you must be Miss Yuya, no?"

Now it was Yuya's turn to gape slightly at Yukimura.

"How do you know my name?" She asked softly while Yukimura just smiled,

"Oh, Morgan told me to look out for you and Kyo when I saw her last." It took Yuya a few seconds to realise,

"Morgan? Who is that?" Yukimura looked surprised for a moment then smiled, slightly flushed and lifted his open bottle to his lips.

Kyo moved on, bypassing Yukimura who followed like a bouncy puppy. After composing herself a little more, Yuya did the same. Behind the door wasn't a laboratory; or at least it didn't look as if many experiments were carried out there: it looked more like a holding pen than anything else: along the left of the stainless steel, brightly lit room, were five barred, windowless cells. Down the right were assortments of computers, jars and bottles, colourful bubbling liquids in large beakers and tools: very sharp, evil looking, blood stained tools. Yuya had to look away. Down the centre were four operating tables: three were immaculate but on the fourth and farthest away from the door, a body lay prone on the surface, an oxygen mask over the nose and mouth, leading down to a metal cylinder with the chemical symbol O2. All three of them gathered around it. There were retractable edges to the operating tables, this one had them folded out, displaying an array of screens and keypads.

"This is pretty high tech stuff." Yuya commented.

"Well it is Mibu made; no wonder this place got it first." Yukimura replied. Kyo was silent. Yuya steeled herself and looked up at the face of the still body and recoiled slightly,

"Hayley." She whispered and went to lift the mask.

"Who?" Yukimura inquired.

"This girl went missing a day or so ago, Sierra caught her on camera being carried through the forest by masked men..."

"Leave the mask: we can't move anything in case someone figures out we've been here." Kyo's voice was low and commanding as he turned to the far end of the room. Yuya's hand left the plastic mask on Hayley's face and went to stroke her damp hair. She looked up as Yukimura left her side to follow Kyo up to the unlit end of the room where three floor and ceiling glass and metal tubes stood. At the metal base of each sprouted a tap with a heavy handle and the bubbling red liquid glowed ominously in the dark.

"I wonder what this is?" Yukimura nodded to a strange contraption that stood on spindly legs in front of the middle tube. He bent down and took a look through the eyepiece that stood at an angle.

"Oh! It's a microscope." He exclaimed and looked up at the instrument. He toyed with a few handles for a moment before placing his eye back down and slowly started turning the dial on the main cylindrical body.

"Mmmm," he made a small sound after a while that did bode well, "looks like nanomachines. Take a look Kyo." He straightened up just as Yuya made it to Yukimura's side. Kyo's eyes flicked slowly between them before slowly bending down to place his crimson eye to the microscope. Yuya couldn't be sure, but she could have sworn that on his neck, just above the collarbone, a small red kanji tattoo stood out from Kyo's tanned skin.

"Kaze...?" She whispered softly. _Wind..._She thought as she replaced Kyo's one with her one: clear, colourless, jellyfish shaped...things...swam about in the red liquid. She retracted the lens to get a bigger view and was astounded with the sheer amount of them. So those were nanomachines...

There was a sound straight off to the right: it echoed like it was from a long way away. Yuya noticed that both Kyo and Yukimura had tensed: hands reaching into their coats. She straightened and reached behind and into the belt of her jeans and gripped the wooden handle of her three chambered revolver. The sounds came closer, still muffled by the echoes; Kyo slid his hand out from his coat; it was occupied by a black oversized gun. In the gloom she could just make out the name 'Tenro' etched onto the side in a thin flowing silver script. She tightened the grip on her own nameless gun and pointed in the direction. She could make out an opening in the wall, another corridor maybe?

The sounds grew nearer and more distinct, there was less echo and the sounds could now be made out. It was defiantly a wooden sound: too sharp 'clop clop'. It came in a slow, simple rhythm and Yuya could have sworn she had heard the noise somewhere before? The answer came soon enough;

"Do you _have _to wear those clogs, Keikoku?"

"My name is Hotaru." From somewhere in the darkness came a sigh and an exasperated voice.

"Here they go again..."

"I think his clogs a great!"

"Well you would wouldn't you?" A very familiar voice snapped, which echoed more than 'clop clop' sound.

Yuya lowered her gun,

"Tokito? Honey?" Yukimura and Kyo slowly returned their guns to inside their coats as the group of five emerged from the darkness.

"Yuya!" Honey ran from the back of the group and glomped Yuya, "finally! We thought we'd never find you! And he," she pointed an accusing finger at Shinrei, "would not stop picking on my Taru-chan!" At this Shinrei just huffed and looked around the chamber. _Oh great, _Yuya internally commented, _Honey's all loved up..._

"How did you get here?" She asked as Honey slowly lowered herself from Yuya's shoulders.

"Weellll," Honey brushed off her blazer and skinny jeans, "Sierra told us."

"What?" Yuya's green eyes grew large with curiosity and next to her she could feel Kyo's hard gaze land on Honey; it prickled her senses.

" Yeah: Sierra arrived home ten or so minutes after you and Kyo had left," Tokito butted in as she stared into one of the glowing tanks, "handed over this new map of the island and said that we would be able to get underground safer from the ruin before flopping onto the couch and passing out."

"Well naturally we weren't going to go it alone so we ran over to the hotel and got Taru-chan and the others to accompany us." Honey chirped and then looked over Yuya's shoulder, "But who is that?" She nodded to Yukimura, who had moved away from the group to a desk in one of the darkened corners.

"Yukimura." Akira answered for Yuya.

"So you know each other?" Honey's eyes flicked between Akira and the slender figure that was hunched over slightly like he was trying to read something out of focus.

"In passing: we've worked with him occasionally over the past few years; he's an informant: gathers information for us to use."

"Yukimura, when did you arrive?" All heads turned to Shinrei who had spoken for the first time since his arrival. Yukimura straightened and with his back turned he looked over his head with the most stunning smile Yuya had ever seen on a man:

"Today." He answered sweet and politely. Yuya felt the fine hairs on her neck crackle and she turned her head: Kyo's eyes had narrowed, almost like he was in calculation with this new fact. _Does he know something I don't? _Yuya wondered.

Honey wondered over to the desk where the newcomer, Yukimura, was studying something that he held close to his face in the darkness.

"Yukimura?" She asked softly, all love-sick teenager hyper-activity gone. He smiled at her, pressing the considerably thick brown paper file to his chest tightly, successfully concealing the contents from her.

"Yes pretty lady, what may I do for you?" Honey floundered: unused to such a direct complement.

"Oh eh...eh...what are you looking at?" In the gloom she could just make out in very deliberate handwriting, the name 'Morgan' in black marker pen on the front.

Yukimura continued to smile –though whether it was forced or not Honey couldn't be sure- as he slipped the file back under a disorganised pile on the desk.

"Nothing to worry your lovely head about." He grinned as he led her away before she could struggle, back to the group. Shinrei was looking down the microscope, expertly fingering the device in studious silence. Honey took her place next to Yuya and observed him:

"Do you think he knows about nanomachines?" She whispered to the blonde but got no reply. Looking up she saw Yuya's own eyes trained on Kyo; who had moved over to Hayley's prone body along with Akira, Tokito and Hotaru. He was giving the body a closer examination even though he touched nothing: just gazed at her with his overwhelming crimson eyes, taking in every detail. She wished Yuya wouldn't look so...so...intense: it irked her somehow. It was almost embarrassing.

Akira coughed after he himself had had his fill of 'observation': "I think it would be a wise decision to leave this place immediately, the longer we stay the more chance we have of drawing attention to ourselves or being found." Yuya seconded the idea,

"Well how about we all go back to our house: it's safe to speak openly there: there's no knowing who would have gone into your hotel rooms while you're away." This was met with general approval.

"May I suggest going back the way Yuya and Kyo came? It's too dangerous to go back into the underground now: not with so many of us: a short sharp exit is best I would think." Yukimura put in from his position in another corner, where he was reading stray pieces of foolscap paper inked with dense text and scribbled diagrams.

Without another word Kyo turned from the table and walked in a quick yet unhurried fashion to the heavy door Yuya and he had entered through. Everyone followed suit, Shinrei taking up the rear. Just as he stepped over the threshold Shinrei felt the impulse to turn his gaze back to the chamber: everything remained the same: the glowing red canisters, the small beeping of the built in monitors in Hayley's table, the empty cells to the left and the disorganised file and paper work on the desks. But even as he looked deeper into the shadows, he could have sworn that there was a shade darker amongst them: he fancied in the shape of a cat, a cat with wide glowing eyes. A chill ran through him and he quickly pulled the heavy door closed, blocking out the yellow pinpricks of light that stared at him from the far end of the chamber.

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**Sorry about the wait. College has come to bite me in the behookie and so I have had no time for writing. But I hope this is satisfactory for now. DISCLAIMER: I own nothing except for Sierra and Honey, and sometimes it seems as if they own themselves...**

**R&R much appriciated. ;-)  
**


	7. Chapter 7

They returned back to the civilisation of the island in total silence. Even Hotaru and Shinrei, who would usually bicker along the way, spoke nothing as they shuffled off down the sloping mountainside and through the dense forest to the main road where Yuya had lead Kyo and the band of tourists that morning. The road was quiet and only lit by the full moon that barely managed to glimpse in through the thick curtains of the overhanging branches and leaves, swaying in the chill sea air.

As the group came upon the town Honey spoke for the first time:

"I really don't feel like going home." She tugged the edges of her blazer closer around her, "What happened to that girl, the way she was on the table...I can't get it out of my head..." Kyo lit a cigarette – as if in thought - and stopped just past the first shop, looking out into the dark horizon.

"Come on." That was all he said as he walked on down the street. Slowly, the rest of them started after him: like carriages pulling out the station after the engine.

They walked on, Kyo leading the way to the small white two story house on the other side of the island. Yuya found it strange that he knew the way, but she was too tired to ask as she walked up the neat gravel path. The large bay front window let the veiled light of the living room drift out onto the small front garden. As Yuya mounted the small blue and white front door patio to unlock the front door, Shinrei peered in through the window but could not see the shapes on the other side of the glass clearly because of the thin net curtain - that stopped people from peering in - did its job.

Eventually the quiet Yuya managed to unlock the door and push it open: the sound of music and laughter rang out to meet them.

"Sierra, we're back!" Yuya called out and Sierra's response was that she was in the living room. Yuya politely took everyone's coats and asked them to take their shoes off before showing them to the bright living room.

The air went ridged as Kyo entered the room after Yuya: he froze, crimson eyes hard and locked on the man that had Yuya's full attention as well as he knelt before the couch. The music filled the roaring silence, preventing it from ever really being as Kyo and Kyoshiro stared at each other. Behind Kyo Hotaru poked his head in to see over Kyo's shoulder and after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence where everyone behind him seemed to be cramming in to see what was going on, he commented

"Oh look, it's Kyoshiro."

Sierra's eyes flicked between Kyoshiro as he knelt beside her on the floor, holding the needle that was sticking in her arm, Kyo who looked like he was either about to erupt or snap with tension and Yuya whose green eyes were wide, mouth agape, staring at Kyoshiro who looked just as surprised. Hotaru made some obvious comment and that was when she decided it was time to move from this tableau. She coughed to get Kyoshiro's attention:

"If you don't mind Kyoshiro, could you kindly get a move on and take this needle out my arm? It's starting to hurt."

The relief this brought was like a thunder storm clearing heavy humidity: everyone seemed to ease a little and Kyoshiro's blue-black hair turned back to her as she lay across the couch, propped against the cushions.

"Of course Sierra-chan." He gave her that goofy smile and removed the long whisper-thin needle from the crook in her arm and pressed a cotton wool ball to the slightly bleeding prick. Sierra pressed the cotton wool down as he taped it to her arm and stood to pack away the medical supplies that everyone realised were scattered about the floor. Kyo was still standing stock still, eyes still watching Kyoshiro's every move, and Yuya was doing the same, only without the same hostility and murderous intent as the former. There was another cough: more gentle and definitely female coming from behind the others in the hallway. Everyone turned or strained to see where it had come from. Sierra witnessed the slight change in Kyo, even when no one else did: a softening, only slight, and the hardness in his eyes eased a little too. Sakuya was smiling softly, carrying a tray of three cups of steaming tea; her long black hair pulled back, with the same fringe as always, dressed in white. She spoke, as soft as her smile:

"Hello...Kyo."

It was later and everyone had settled into the living room: tea was passed around ( or wine, in Yukimura's case) and all was quiet. Sierra was still lounged back on the couch and she observed Kyo staring daggers into Kyoshiro across the room. It was about time someone started asking the questions that everyone was thinking and fortunately, it was Akira who picked up on this thought and acted on it:

"So, Kyoshiro, what brings you here?" Kyoshiro seemed to perk up at the question.

"Why, to be the doctor I'm trained to be!" He grinned and glanced at Sierra, "Sakuya and I came to collect Sierra and take her to the hospital for her regular treatment." Sierra felt a small dry smile tug at her lips.

"Oh? And what treatment is that? Surely she does look better then what she did when we first met." Sierra could feel a whole lot of eyes plant themselves on her, examining her and her new state of health: she most certainly felt better and that meant she usually looked better too: her skin was probably less drawn and with a bit more colour, her eyes were probably wider open too: not dragged down with exhaustion as her body began to pick up speed again. Everyone reverted to staring at Kyoshiro.

"It's a blood disorder."

"But why you and not some other doctor? Surely there are hundreds?" But Sierra got there before Kyoshiro to answer Akira,

"Because what I have requires his special abilities and knowledge, he's one of the only people in the world who can help me. It's a...very rare type of blood disorder." She shifted, getting more comfortable as she felt herself needing a quick nap to reboot, "but my illness isn't anyone else's concern, least of all yours Akira. Get on with what you want to ask."

"Actually, I have an important message from Akari-chan." Sierra's eyes flicked open as Kyoshiro started before Akira could continue, "she emailed me this morning to tell me that other intel on the island has discovered that the technology that the Mibu has created is being auctioned off sometime this week. A lot of important people are going to be arriving within the next two days. She says you need to get someone in as a bidder and possible buyer."

"But we don't have that sort of money." Shinrei put in from the corner he had tucked himself into. Kyoshiro looked at him with steady eyes,

"Akari said that she'd get that covered. You just need to get someone in."

"Knowing the Mibu, which I think I do, they've probably been watching us since we came on this island. There's no way they'd be stupid enough to let one of us in." Shinrei was ever the helpful optimist. There was a happy chuckle from the wicker seat where Yukimura was cuddling up to his fifth bottle of wine.

"No, but they like me! I'm sure I'd get in pretty easily. I could be your man." He hiccupped and drank some more deeply. Akira struck his characteristic pose of thinking with his finger on his chin,

"Yes, from what I've heard, you and the Mibu clan have had some dealings in the past, what with your little fight with the Tokugawa you've got going on. I'm sure you're both on pretty friendly terms."

"Yep." A now rather far-gone Yukimura hiccupped again, "friendly enough to be your bidder." It was at this moment that Kyo did something characteristic of his own and got up and moved out the room without any warning. He slowly made his way out the door, head down as in thought, and ambled past Sakuya who looked up at him from her traditional kneeling position on the floor. Kyo didn't stop, just walked on till the sound of the front door could be heard, but there was no sound on the gravel path to suggest that he walked down it.

As the front door closed quiet discussion started from the more sensible of the remaining group: namely Akira, Shinrei, Kyoshiro, Honey and sometimes Yukimura. Yuya – finding that she had nothing to contribute – slowly moved from the living room too and out the front door where she found Kyo sitting on the edge of the patio step smoking, a glass of whisky in his hand. He didn't turn at the sound of the door closing; just sat and watched the silver disk in the sky. Yuya stood like that for a little while, watching his still form in the dark highlighted by the lighter shade of the moon on the ocean. After this long observation she grew tired of the silence and inched forward:

"Hey Kyo," he didn't move, "I was wondering...why did you come out here? You're able to smoke in the living room." She drew up beside him and sat down, feet hanging over the patio edge. The silence reigned again before he answered:

"It's quiet out here. "

"Yeah, it's very quiet." She couldn't help the glance sideways to his face: her eyes traced the hard line of his profile as his own red eyes gazed off, almost unseeingly into the distance. Dead silence threatened again.

"Kyo..." This time his eyes flicked to her but instead of seeing her eyes gazing at him, they were on the ground examining her feet which twitched like she was concerned: that her mind was somewhere unpleasant.

"Do you think...that girl will be okay...?"

The silence fell and remained, for a very long time.

* * *

Gaaaahhhh! Sorry it's taken so long. There is no excuse for my lazy/tardyness. *bows* please forgive me?

R&R much appriciated! *Disclaimer* Not my selection, just playing at the pic'n'mix counter: Seirra and Honey are mine, everything else belongs to the respective artists.


	8. Chapter 8

There was nothing they could do: they just had to wait it out just like they had the time before and all the times before that. Honey had yelled and screamed at them when they had tried to talk to her through her heavy bedroom door: Yuya then turned to everyone and quietly told them they'd have to wait till she had calmed down. When the swing took hold of Honey a mere ten minutes ago everyone had either rushed upstairs or poked their heads out of bedroom doors along the landing to see what was going on. After Yuya had something about staying away screamed at her, accompanied with what sounded like smashing glass against the door, everyone either moved back downstairs or back to bed.

Only Sierra and Hotaru remained vigilant on the landing.

"I thought you said you were going back to bed?" Sierra glanced over at Hotaru from her position huddled against Honey's door, swamped in a massive furry red housecoat and slippers and socks. There was no reply before:

"Is that smashing glass?" Sierra frowned but answered that it was.

"Why does she have glass in her room?"

"She likes glass. She says she likes seeing the sun reflected off it."

"I have a chicky bowl." Sierra screwed her eyes up, as if the pressure behind her eyes would eject the words that had came in through her ears back out the same way. No such luck.

"Um...okay."

"I hate it." She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Right..."

"But I keep it though."

"Why?" She frowned again, not really believing that this man was related to someone as logical as Shinrei.

"Because when I look back, it's always there." It was far too early in the morning to be dealing with this man, Sierra thought and stood up. The symphony of smashing glass and furniture being pushed over and the ripping of clothes and the tearing of paper were becoming too much for Sierra to take and Honey didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

"I'm going to get a drink, would you like something?" No answer so she moved off and down the stairs. But as she stepped down the first few steps she paused to look at the lone figure sitting cross-legged on the floor, resolute in his blank stare.

_He's willing to sit there, listening to her rip up her room and almost certainly hurt herself..._

There was a scream of absolute frustration and anger from behind the door and the sound of a piece of expensive technology being smashed with a baseball bat. She was compelled to say something:

"She'll come down soon...it's not her fault." And that was all she could say to the blank faced man.

"The sky sure is pretty tonight." Yuya tried to strike up a conversation with the silent hunched figure next to her, wisps of smoke escaping his cigarette. Kyo blinked his red eyes as he looked down, always down blankly into the dark horizon as if seeking something there. Yuya took this silence to study his sharp profile: unlike Kyoshiro's gently sloping nose, Kyo's was as sharp as a razor; Kyoshiro's hair was a blue black while Kyo's was as black as sin; Kyoshiro's eyes were...

She caught herself before she started with another comparison. She shook her head, trying to clear away the cobwebs of relationships long past: she and Kyoshiro were over, they were just good friends now. She tried a conversation again:

"Did you get much sleep?" Kyo blinked slowly in response but remained silent. Yuya was never one to be discouraged but Kyo required more tact it seemed, so she followed his gaze over to the horizon and watched for whatever Kyo was waiting for.

"So what's wrong with you?" The question was like a knife in the back: sudden, unexpected and winding.

"Wh...what do you mean?" Yuya struggled with the sudden surprise, but that was quickly driven away by the feeling of being offended that Kyo thought there was something wrong with her.

"You know what I mean: what's faulty? What is wrong with your model? There's that blood defect and she," he paused as the sound of high tech technology being obliterated by some sort of heavy object crashed down around them, "has uncontrollable mood swings: so what's wrong with you and Tokito?"

Yuya huffed and looked away,

"What makes you say I have something wrong with me?"

"Because there is something wrong with all of us." Came the steady reply as he flicked the ash off the end of his cigarette and continued to smoke. The silence between them stretched until it eliminated even the sound of heavy destruction from above them.

"I have...a limited lifespan."

"Everyone has a limited lifespan."

"No I mean...my heart is infected by a worm, and it's on a sort of countdown timer, here." Kyo glanced sideways as Yuya pulled out her mobile phone and skimmed through it before showing a picture of a perfectly formed bosom, but in the centre twelve angry red star shapes sat in a circle.

"When those marks start to vanish, I have only twelve hours to live. I was a sort of...self-destruct make: do the job, end my life. But there's something wrong with the worm: it's stuck and can go off at any time." Kyo blinked at the picture slowly and drew his eyes away.

"What about you and your team? What's wrong with you if there is something wrong with all of us?" Kyo tapped the end of his cigarette again,

"Degenerative disease: it kills our body off. Something genetics related."

"Do you cough up blood?"

"Not yet."

"But that sounds like what Tokito has. She coughs up blood occasionally." Yuya looked thoughtful and tilted her head up to peer at the many twinkly stars.

Sierra stepped down the stairs and glided soundlessly into the living room: Yukimura was passed out, drooling steadily from one corner of his mouth as he slept through the emerging hangover. Sierra missed drink, but having 'dodgy blood' - as her sister once said – meant that anything that entered her bloodstream could compromise what little health she had. Quietly padding her way through the cold tiled kitchen she exited out into the calm night of the back garden and sat on the back step. She peered up at the moon: it was high in its arch now, preparing for the long lazy descent down into the horizon and another night on the other side of the world. She frowned almost sorrowfully at it, as if trying to remember some fleeting dream of another life long forgotten.

_What was my name? _

She tried desperately to claw back the vale of years, trying to find that past life before she became...this. Futile: the memories faded around the edges, only the memory of sound and never the sound itself. She had been this for so long now, even before Yuya. But there was one thing that stayed with her all the way to present day: even when she was 'normal' she was sick: hemolytic anemia ran in the family, but when she was made into this 'battle doll' as her captors called them, the anemia mutated to something more potent and deadly. She was waning fast, like the moon.

"Why so sad Sierra-chan!" She jumped and her head shot around. Yukimura was leaning against the doorframe, grinning as only a sincerely drunk person can. She smiled at him,

"Just reminiscing."

"Ahhhhhhh! I see." He plonked himself down next to her, Sake bottle in one hand, "Penny for your thoughts?" He hiccupped.

"Trying to remember my name."

"It's Sierra of course!" She shook her head sadly, but was grabbed around the shoulders and pulled into a massive bear hug.

"Yukimura...your breath stinks." She struggled to pull away, feeling smothered. Yukimura pouted:

"Aww! But I just wanted to make a pretty girl feel better!" She struggled harder.

"But seriously, Sierra," Yukimura's serious and very sober tones in her ear stilled her immediately, "I've found what you're looking for and I will get it for you...if you do something for me..."

He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but Shinrei went into Sierra's room anyway. It had the feel of someone who didn't connect with life too well: generic white walls and laminate wood flooring, a uniform metal work desk with computer and printer, a wardrobe and a double bed – more a hotel room then a bedroom at home. It was almost destitute of feeling for all but the wall to the left of him: from skirting board to ceiling a collage of photographs spanned the entire wall. He walked along it in fascination: taking in all the parts of the many photos that overlapped and buried each other in layer upon layer of tiny moments in Sierra's life. There was a noticeable lack of Sierra in them: only Yuya or Honey or a rather reluctant Tokito filled the images, or the stunning scenery of the island transported you to another time. There were no family photos, nothing to connect to her past: it seemed that Sierra was very much in the here and now.

He glided he way over the laminate flooring to the desk where photos were strewn across the surface. Using his fingers he moved the shiny prints around delicately, scanning each of them with a quick glance of his eyes. All of them seemed pretty nondescript scenery views (maybe she was having photographer's block?) until he got down to the last layer of photographs. There it was as bright and bold as a lighthouse in a storm: Saisei.

* * *

Guess who's back, back again ^^ The usual disclaimer: not my art gallery, just browsing.


	9. Chapter 9 A small interlude

The following days past in a flurry of restless nothingness: they kept mainly to the house and hotel, trying to blend into the flowing crowed of tourists as it hit the holiday season or going about their daily jobs on the island. It grew hotter and hotter as the annual heat waves rolled over the island and settled in a down, smothering the inhabitants in a heady boiling pressure.

"It's way too warrrrrm!" Honey whined as she pushed her face as far as possible up to the fan.

"You don't think we don't know that?" Tokito glared at Honey, "And get your ugly face away from the fan, you're hogging the cool air."

Down at the cove a little way from the house, Yuya walked along the crowded stretch of sand. It was a small beach, one of the sort where you have to really look for it, but today it seemed as if the whole island had descended down upon it to bathe in the cool shade provided by the small cliff where the island fell away into the sea. Kyo was one of those who chose to recline as far back into the shade as possible, stoically smoking a cigarette. Occasionally his red eyes strayed across the beach and located Yuya...well, mostly located her push up bikini top.

"Pervert." It wasn't so much an accusation as a statement. Kyo glanced back down at Sierra who was leaning against the cold rock like him, legs stretched out in front of her. She had been forced to change from her usual jeans and blouse get up into a tankini.

"And don't even think about eyeing up my assets." She smirked. He huffed and looked away, back to Yuya.

"Nice bruise." Sierra blinked and looked up at him,

"What?"

"Leg." She glanced down at the large bruise on the inside of her thigh.

"Oh, thank you." She grinned.

"How'd you do that?"

"Why do you care?"

"I don't." They were both silent for a moment: Kyo looking out to the throng and people and Sierra up at the statuesque man.

"Surely you must know?" She whispered after too long a silence. Kyo remained silent again, seemingly contemplating.

"Does it hurt when you do it?"

"Yeah, it does. But sometimes it's so worth it." Kyo gave a grim smirk around his cigarette end.

"No, really, it does."

"So, did you manage to do it?"

"It?"

"Yes, what you were originally created for."

"Oh, that, yes, but when I first did it I passed out for three days and only made a miniscule amount. And really if I was able to transmute an adequate amount of lead into gold –without damaging myself- do you think I'd be sitting here working for Akari and not lounging on some private island beach of my own?" Kyo had to smirk properly at that one.

Suddenly Sierra's head snapped away, like a Bloodhound who had found a fresh scent. She eyed the crowed, tracking a cropped head of purple hair that glided amongst the brunettes and blondes, standing out in stark contrast.

"Imma be right back." She darted off into the crowd, spraying up a wave of sand as she leapt up.

She traced Saisei further down the beach to the harbour, weaving in and out of the forest of people, keeping to the wall of the cove while Saisei traced the shoreline, occasionally paddling in the waves that lapped at her bare feet. As they moved on down the cove it eventually started to narrow into a point. Here a harbour protruded like a blunt spear into the water and the crowd became sparser, making it harder for her to hide now there were greater and greater gaps between clumps of people as they came up to the point. At once she spotted Saisei's focus of attention: Shinrei had climbed out the water and had lodged his surfboard into the sand. He stood, water dripping off him and his shorts as he wrung out his hair.

Sierra ducked behind a slanting outcrop of rock and lay face down on the surface to watch the two people over the edge. She couldn't hear them, but their faces and body language said it all: Shinrei's look of disbelief as he turned and spotted her, the dazzling smile on Saisei's face, the way Shinrei slowly moved to her as if he was sure she was a dream, the way they embraced, they way stood together: Shinrei open and relaxed, Saisei toying with her hair and smiling flirtatiously. It was easy to see this was not a reunion of just _friends. _

The chill that ran down Sierra's back was not because of the cooling wind that decided to breeze down the beach, or the dripping of cold water on the back of her legs from the wall of rock behind her. This was not the time or place for star-crossed lovers. She just had to hope that Shinrei knew where his best interests lay.


	10. Chapter 10

Shinrei strolled alone in the deserted cove, walking in the shallow depths of the shore: neatly pressed jeans rolled up to mid-calf, socks and shoes in hand as he paddled his way through the crystal waters, lost in thoughts too deep and forbidden to fathom by onlookers. The tide surged and swelled slightly around his legs – an uncontrollable effect of his 'special attributes' – dragging loose grains of sand over his feet and washing away his footprints before they even had a chance to show. Water had always calmed him; had always helped him think: even from his earliest childhood he had always been around water, his childhood home had numerous water features in the gardens and he had always loved the way the light seemed to explode on the surface. Back then he never dreamed that he would one day be able to control entire seas and oceans at a mere thought...but always at a price.

"That's just like you..always so serious." He jumped, causing the tide to retract back then flood around him again as the fright past, calming and soothed again.

"No I'm -" But he was cut off by the sweet smile that splashed across Saisei's face.

"Yes, always so serious." Her laugh caressed his ears and the walls of the cove with the gentle sound of bells: a total contrast to the harsh crack of laughter from her friend Saishi. He wanted to frown but found it impossible in the face of his dear friend. Instead his face remained passive, tinted with a slight shade of embarrassment. The gentle smile faded gradually, like the stages of the moon personified in the face of a human, and she finally spoke again, softer then the sound of the waves kissing the shore line;

"Why are you here?"

There was no immediate response so the silence stretched on between them. Finally Shinrei spoke the answer that had filled Saisei's dreams for seeming epochs:

"To fulfil my promise to you: to take you away from here."

Arriving out of breath and almost out of time, Sierra stepped up out of the surf and onto the white sand beach of the uncharted island three miles from the island resort. Tired and sore and still not fully recovered from showing off to Kyo, she climbed the deep sands of beach, feeling her thighs protest at the extra effort, and made her way up the dunes and into the finely spaced trees that marched on into the centre of the island, the belt pack, latched onto her bikini bottoms, now dripped water from its waterproof body as she half jogged half power walked into the wood. The sand soon gave way to clean fresh dirt and a small foot path that looked a little too neat to be natural, presented itself to her. Following, still enduring the protests of her exerted muscles, she came upon a small one level house with a Japanese porch tracing the outside. She stopped as she entered the clearly defined yard with it's neat cut boarders and small vegetable patch, panting as the swim and the previous day's efforts caught up with her.

"Here," she pulled off the belt pack and offered it to the man folded neatly on the porch in front of an open sliding door, sipping tea from a handle-less cup, "I can't remember ever feeling like this...ever...I think Kyoshiro's onto something."

Slender hands slide themselves over hers, lifting the pack from her wrinkled hands and lifting from them.

"Thank you, I shall take a look. Please stay and help yourself to tea."


End file.
